


Human Psyche

by FlyingDutchy



Category: Dark Matter (TV)
Genre: F/F, Post Season 3 Finale, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-28
Updated: 2017-08-28
Packaged: 2018-12-20 19:24:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11927610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FlyingDutchy/pseuds/FlyingDutchy
Summary: ## SPOILERS ##After the Black Ships have come through the Portal, the Raza and its fleet are scattered. The Android responds to the distress of one of her crew, one in particular. The crew deals with grief and uncertainty. And the Android learns a bit about humanity along the way.





	Human Psyche

 

She moved just a bit quicker than usual. With deliberate movements, she moved away from the bridge and towards the crew’s living quarters. When she first noticed the signs of distress, not physical but emotional, she tried to ignore her innate impulse to seek out the source. She was equipped to protect the ship and its crew, but dealing with emotions was not something she could help.

 

When this happened before, she would either ignore, or send another crew member to check up on them. As a last resort, she would contact the person in turmoil, to see if help was required.

 

Now, the moment she noticed that the signs of distress weren’t abating, and how unusual it was that they were coming from _her_ , she found herself unable to continue with her routine functioning.

 

The door to the sleeping quarters slides opened without the need for her to enter a password, all the ship's functions were under her control. The large bed was occupied by a single person. On top of the blankets, curled up in fetal position, was her captain. Sobs were wrecking her body.

 

She wanted to reach out. She curled her fingers and flexed them, and she knew that there was something she should do. She doesn’t know what. Tentatively, she takes a step forward, hoping that the brunette would notice her presence. When it doesn’t happen, she speaks.

 

“T-two.”  Her voice modulator seems to be malfunctioning, because her voice sounds raspier than normally. “What is wrong?”

 

In alarm, Two sat up in bed and looked at the intruder. The Android felt her vitals spike, a defense mechanism enhanced by her nanites, but when Two’s gaze settled on the Android, her fight or flight response shut down. Two also made no effort to hide the signs of breakdown, instead, she buried her face in her hands once more.

 

The Android waited, she knew that Two would speak eventually.

 

“I-I’m afraid.” Two started after taking a few deep breaths. “I compromised our crew. I send Six to his death only to open a portal for the alien ships. For aliens who infected me. They may still influence me. My body- it was built for these aliens, to be their host.”

 

“I was built as someone’s host as well.” She understood that part of her captain’s distress. “That piece of data was difficult for me to process. However, I think that I have construed my own identity. You are more than what you were built for, Two.”

 

At the end of the sentence, she finds the brunette looking at her intently. She also read that Two was holding something back, she was not giving her the full story.

“Is there more?”

 

Now Two looks away from her. “I shot you.”

 

“I have no permanent damage.” The Android didn’t quite understand why this bothered the woman in front of her. “I have been shot before, on many occasions.”

 

Two shook her head. “I was fully conscious, trapped in my own mind. When I shot you, you sounded surprised and hurt. You wanted to know ‘why’.”

 

She _had_ been surprised. And something had burned inside her, something unpleasant and all encompassing. So that was pain, and she had been hurt. “I know it wasn’t you.”

 

“In that brief moment, you didn’t. And it hurt me, when you asked why.”

 

Alarmed, the Android took another step closer to the bed. She was towering over the hunched over figure of Two, who was still seated on her bed. Two had now wrapped her arms around her knees, and leaned with her chin on them.

 

“I never meant to hurt you.” She said, but Two shook her head. “I’m sorry. I’m ill equipped for dealing with emotional distress.”

 

“You’re helping, more than you know.” Two wiped her tears from her eyes. Something prompted the Android to reach out and catch a few remaining salty drops, but she doesn’t.

 

“Is there anything I can do? I find that your state impairs with my functioning.” The Android knew she to be running diagnostics on the data they had captured from the Black Ships that came through the portal. Those tasks had been paused and her full processing power was turned to be of service to Two. She noticed that Two’s emotional distress spiked negatively at her comment, which might have been ill construed. “I do not mean-”

 

“It’s alright.” Two laughed her last tears away. “It’s called empathy.”

 

The subject of human emotions was still quite foreign to the Android. She understood that she could experience them, even without the upgrade. Understanding and acting upon them was still a learning process. One which the Android was hesitant to undertake. She was worried where it may lead her. Her experience with the upgrade showed that it could be a detriment for her team.

 

Recently, she had felt other impulses, and her first impulse was to do something drastic. She had not given into them, just like she didn’t brush away Two’s tears.

 

“Actually, and this is going to sound strange,” the brunette in question responded to her earlier query, “could you, maybe, hug me?”

 

She wasted no time and sat down next to the ship’s captain on her bed. She then wrapped her arms around Two’s body and leaned forward to press herself against the brunette. To a human this position might have been uncomfortable, but for the Android it didn’t matter. After a brief moment where Two stiffened, she felt the woman relax in her embrace.

 

Her systems responded irregularly to the action. She no longer had her background processes interrupted by Two’s state, but now they still were not continuing. Most of her computational effort was going towards registering her current position and what it entails. The Android was not completely ignorant of human emotions, and she labeled the current feeling she was experiencing as ‘comfort’.

 

For some reason, she also felt the need to talk. “It is not strange to ask for physical comfort. Humans often require contact for many situations in their life. They shake hands when meeting someone, or saying goodbye. A shoulder pat can be used to show appreciation for someone’s work. More intimate touches can provide comfort, these include a touch on someone’s thigh or the small of their back. Hugs are also ways of expression various emotions, and all these hugs are done differently. While I am not designed to provide such actions, I hope my service is satif-”

 

A laugh filled the room once again. “You’re doing what humans call ranting.”

 

There was something about hearing Two laugh loudly without an undertone of sadness. “It was useful information regarding my capabilities.”

 

“Whatever makes you sleep at night.” The woman in her arms said lightly, who then buried her face in the Android’s neck. “And to answer your question, your services are perfect.”

 

The Android may not feel pain, but she does have receptors placed all over her skin. When she felt the soft warm breath of Two on the base of her neck, she felt a tingling feeling moving all the way down her spine. It was a feeling of something short-circuiting for just a brief moment, but without the usual loss of information. Instead, everything felt heightened.

 

The Android attributed this to her malfunctioning programming, but she decided that she liked the feeling.

 

* * *

 

The crew of the Raza was not in high spirits. It was now a week after P-Day, Portal day as dubbed by Three. It was a week after they won the battle against Ferrous Corp, but even that victory was taken from them. In the aftermath of the destruction of the shipyard, the Black Ships had opened fire upon the remaining ships. They destroyed three quarters of all the fleets present in the system. The same ships that the crew of the Raza had blown up, were now sorely needed for the fight against the invaders.

 

And they had lost Six.

 

The Android had postulated that Six may have survived. If the portal originated from the drive going critical, then it stands to reason that the Marauder had survived the encounter. There was, however, no data to support this hypothesis, and she kept it private. The Android briefly wondered if conjuring a hypothesis based on no observations or data was another system fault, it could certainly be dangerous for the crew if she was to base decisions on such notions.

 

“Two, Three, Ryo and Five. Please come to the dining quarters.”

 

Two was the first to arrive. She looked at the table, eyes widening, and then looked at her. “You have been busy. What is this for?”

 

Before she got a chance to reply, Three stumbled in. She knew his blood alcohol level was high, but not high enough to produce this level of disorientation. The Android knew that Three was also struggling with the dead of Six, and the loss of his wife Sarah. “What’s this about? Why did the robot call us here?”

 

He had become more abrasive towards her as a result of his wife being missing. Somehow, it seemed to affect her functioning more than before.

 

“Hey!” Two warned the drunk mercenary, who took the message and plopped down in one of the chairs.

 

Ryo then entered the room. The Android no longer referred to him as Four, because she felt that he was a different entity. Ryo was still struggling with the loss of his throne, and now his remaining fleet was scattered as well. He could blame their plan, but none could have expected this outcome. “This smells amazing, you have improved since I was last here, Android.”

 

The Zairon heir reached out try something, but she quickly interrupted him. “We are still missing Five.”

 

The crew, plus Ryo, looked at each other with discomfort. Was there something she was missing? Quickly, she scanned Five’s vitals. There was nothing out of order. In fact… there was nothing. At all. This was not usual for humans, who always had some emotional activity.

 

She felt her own systems go into overdrive, trying to figure out what was wrong. Then, she felt a hand touch her elbow. Two was standing close to her, and their brown eyes met. “It’s okay. She has constructed a wall around herself, protecting her from her pain.” Two explained to her what Five was doing.

 

These instances had happened more often lately. Two would explain part of the human psyche to her. The Android had even asked her about some of her impulses.

 

Then, Five came into the room and sat down at the table. She didn’t acknowledge anyone. She didn’t spare a glance at the table, and only looked at an empty spot right in front of her. The Android started to speak, but a soft pinch on her elbow and a quick shake of Two’s head told her not to.

 

She cleared a non-existent stoppage in her throat. “I have prepared a meal for us all. I heard it was a favorite of Six. It consists of-”

 

“It’s _Idan Goreng._ A species of bird-like creatures from Ikai-3a, prepared similarly to a dish from Terra Prime.” Five rattled off. The Android saw the girl look with wide eyes over the table. Finally they locked with hers. “You made this in honor of him.”

 

“Yes.” It wasn’t a question.

 

“So you all have given up hope? You all think he’s dead?” Five’s voice was rising. “Is that why we’re not coming up with a counter plan? Why we’re just sitting on our asses while Six could be fighting for his life?”

 

Now would not be the time to bring up the lack of data suggesting this, or the fact that she has toyed with that hypothesis as well.  

 

The blue haired girl stood up from her place and angrily smashed her fists down on the table. The plates with food rattled and one bowl of white rice vibrated over the edge. The porcelain broke and the small white grains spread over the floor.

 

“Shit, shit, shit.” Five dropped to her knees and, with her bare hands, tried to collect the small grains and sharp fragments. Until she finally cut herself on one of them, and hissed when her skin was pierced. The Android knelt down and stopped the shaking hands from continuing their work.

 

“I will clean it, Five.”

 

“Don’t touch me!” She was swatted away. “You’re the reason that Six had to go. You are either shot or disabled every time we lose one of our own.”

 

She blinked.

 

It must have been a longer blink than usual because when her eyes opened, Five had gone and only Two was remaining. She looked at the table, which was being cleaned by Two. All remaining food was being put into containers, but she also noticed that two plates were missing, together with quite a bit portion of the food.

 

“Hey, you’re back.” Two stopped clearing the table and moved over to her. “Are you okay? You were unresponsive for about a minute.”

 

A minute? Her internal clock, and the progress on some of the background processes, corroborated that statement. But she didn’t remember the last minute at all. “I’m not sure. Everything seems to be okay, but I don’t recall the last minute.”

 

She was still kneeling down, so when Two squatted down in front of her they were on the same level. She felt hands on both her knee and thigh, their warmth seeping through her thin suit. “Five didn’t mean what she said.”

 

She recalled what had been said. Five had pointed out how useless she was at keeping them alive. She remembered her system overloading and briefly shutting down non-essential programs, such as sight, hearing, and conscious thought.  

 

“It was true. Ryo disabled me with a phrase and Nyx died. I was shot and Six had to sacrifice himself.”

 

Two’s hands no gripped her more strongly. “Six was not your fault. I was the one who shot you.”

 

“I should have noticed a difference in your vitals. I always keep good track of you - of all our crew.” She corrected herself. It was true that she felt a special need to collect more data on Two. The Android attributed that to the fact that Two was their captain, and that she was literally built for her.

 

“No, listen to me.” A strong hand gripped her chin and she could no longer avoid a gaze she hadn’t even noticed she was avoiding. “I was compromised and that cost us Six. Ryo used your programming against you, something we fixed, we can no longer shut you down with a single phrase.”

 

The intensity of the conviction held by Two was easily visible in her eyes. The Android didn’t need her advanced biometrics to know that Two spoke the truth. The rough hand on her chin lost its vice grip, but when the remaining hand on her thigh pulled back, she intervened and kept it there. It’s presence felt inexplicably nice.

 

Two then stood up, and held out a single hand for the Android to get up. It was a wholly unnecessary gesture towards an android, but one that was appreciated nonetheless. “Thank you. For everything.” She didn’t quite know what she was thanking for exactly.

 

For a brief moment, she saw a weird vulnerable expression in Two’s eyes. Not that the woman never was vulnerable, but the expression held something that the Android found difficult to place. She recognised fondness, but not one that she had seen in Six when he was watching over Five. The moment was short, and Two looked away at the half-cleared table.

 

“The taste was excellent. Three and Ryo will be burning their mouths off for the remainder of the night, because it is so spicy. My nanites took care of the pain.” For just a second the Android was alarmed.

 

“No pain for this android, remember.”

 

Somehow, she didn’t seem to be capable of saying the correct thing, because Two grimaced and then wrapped the Android in an embrace. She heard a whisper in her ear. “No physical pain.”

 

* * *

 

She heard the grunt of pain before she noticed _her_ vitals spike. The ship's communications systems were always sending her data, but most of it never registered fully. This one always would.

 

She sprinted through the hallways towards the source and burst through the doors before they were fully opened, denting them slightly in the progress. She saw Two on her back, with a hand clutching her stomach. Ryo stood over her with a sword in his hand, the tip of it was bloodied.

 

She should personally have killed him when they no longer needed him for his fleet. He was a danger to this crew and now he had wounded _her_.

 

Before he could register her being here, she jumped forward and roughly disarmed the warrior. She grabbed the katana by its edge, breaking her skin on the sharp contact, and used the pommel as a hammer head. Ryo, disoriented by the sudden intrusion, stood no chance as his sword was being used as a crude club to clobber him.

 

The Android heard Ryo grunt when she made contact, and she saw him go limp at the perfect uppercut. The Zairon heir tried to remain standing and he tried to get a word out but he was hit again and the only thing that came out of his mouth was a mouthful of blood.

 

When he didn’t get up again, she dropped the weapon and turned around. With movements that could almost - not quite because they were still too controlled and deliberate - be described as frantic she ripped open Two’s shirt and used it as a bandage for her wound.

 

It was only then that she noticed that Two was calling out to her. “Android. Android. _Suki_!”

 

For some reason, it was her name that made her stop what she was doing and take in the situation. They were in the training room. Two and Ryo both had their swords. Two had been wounded but Ryo had not been going in for the kill, in fact, his sword had been pointing away from Two the moment she had burst into the room.

 

She had made a grave mistake.

 

“What do you think you’re doing, Android?”  Two’s voice was harsh. It was a valid question, but the harshness in Two’s voice and her eyes put a wall between the two of them. The Android stopped her unnecessary treatment of her captain and quickly stepped back. Two got up from the ground and went to check on Ryo. After seeing that his wounds were also superficial, the woman turned back to her. “What the hell is going on?”

 

She didn’t have a satisfactory answer, so she decided to stay quited. This only seemed to anger Two more. “Tell me. Your reaction was out of bounds, based on an incorrect assessment of the situation. I’m beginning to think your matrix is faulty.”

 

Those words struck true, and Two seemed to notice what she had said as well. “I didn’t mean that.”

 

The Android looked at her hands, some of Two’s blood was on them but not much, and she studied them as if they had done this of their own volition. “I don’t know.” She told Two honestly. “I don’t know what’s going on with me.”

 

She looked at Ryo, but Two interrupted her when she went to help him. “He’ll sleep it off. It’s only his pride that’s truly hurt.” Two mentioned to follow her. “Come.”

 

The brunette lead them to her room and sat her down on the bed. “Tell me what’s going on in that head of yours.”

 

“My processors are located all-”

 

“Don’t deflect.” She was interrupted once more. “Why did you attack Ryo?”

 

“He was attacking you, I wanted to protect the crew.”

 

“Why didn’t you see we were training?”

 

“I don’t know.”

 

“Are you using your upgrade?” The Android wondered why she was asked this. It should be easy to recognise her on the upgrade and without it.

 

“No.”

 

“Why did you make this mistake?”

 

“Protecting you is not a mistake.”  

 

“Would you - would you have reacted the same for any other crew member?” Two briefly hesitated when asking this question.

 

The Android wants to say yes, but she knows it’s not true. She would not have acted so impulsively She should have known it was the training room the moment she pinged Two’s location. No, the moment she felt _her_ vitals spike and heard _her_ painful grunt, she had only one thing in her tasklist.

 

“No.”

 

She saw Two’s eyes widen slightly. The Android didn’t quite know what this answer meant, but she knew that it was dangerous for her crew. She also felt that she didn’t care, protecting Two was, for some reason, more important. She wondered if Dr. Shaw had programmed her this way, but she also knew that these developments are more recent. They started after she became fully aware of who she was and what she could do even without the upgrade.

 

“I’m not sorry, Two.” This seemed to shake the woman awake. The woman who was apparently debating with herself, similar to what she’d been doing. “I am sorry for misinterpreting the situation, but about my motives. And I would do the same if I could redo it.”

 

Two nods, but respond with more than that. Two;s internal debate seemed to last for a while. As and Android, if she ever needed to debate things with herself, she could run through thousands of arguments in a single second. Two, despite being enhanced with nanites, still needed quite some time to debate herself.

 

The Android waited patiently.

 

Then, after five minutes of silence, the silence was broken when two asked something. “Android, can I- can I try something? Stop me at any time.”

 

Immediately after, she felt soft lips press against hers. They moved slowly, and she had experienced this only once before. Using her previous experience, she moved hers in response. Before she knew it, a tongue slipped between her lips, and she met it with her own in battle, trying to force it out. It was the most pleasant battle she had ever taken part in.

 

Then, Two broke away, panting. The Android was not panting, but she was left _wanting_. She wasn’t new to the idea of kissing and intimacy, but never before did she want so much more.

“Wow.” She described her feelings inadequately.

 

Two nodded, slightly dazed. “I just wowed an android.”

 

They didn’t panic. They didn’t freak out. And they were also not discussing what this meant or what it _could_ mean. This was all so new for the Android, that Two did not want to take advantage of her, and the Android herself wanted to understand her emotions better before acting upon them even more.

 

But when they both closed the distance between them once more, they both decided that they would figure all that out later.

  


 


End file.
